1. Field
The following description relates to a method of ultrasonic beamforming and an apparatus therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic image is used for analyzing characteristics of tissue by outputting a pulse and receiving a reflection signal of the pulse. An ultrasonic imaging system may need focusing in order to obtain reflection characteristics of tissue located at a desired position. The ultrasonic imaging system produces data from signals input to an ultrasonic transducer during focusing, in a delay and sum (DAS) process.
It is difficult to accurately focus on tissue at a desired position due to a difference in the signal speed between neighboring tissues or refraction and reflection effects. To address the matter, adaptive weight beamforming technology has been suggested in which the DAS process is performed by giving a weight to a signal input to each element of the ultrasonic transducer. The adaptive weight beamforming technology having a weight controlling effect may minimize signal noise so that a variation value is reduced. According to an application of the adaptive weight beamforming technology, a higher resolution image may be obtained in comparison to an application of the DAS method. However, the application of the adaptive weight beamforming technology may increase an amount of calculation in comparison to the application of the DAS method.